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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23847394">the end of all the endings</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/reybencyera/pseuds/reybencyera'>reybencyera</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Ben Solo Lives, Ben Solo Needs A Hug, Canon Rewrite, F/M, Force Bond (Star Wars), Force Dyad (Star Wars), POV Ben Solo, Redeemed Ben Solo, Rey Needs A Hug, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Fix-It, idk how to tag</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-04-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-04-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 20:34:19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,164</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23847394</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/reybencyera/pseuds/reybencyera</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>He gasped as he finally felt the warmth of it. It drew him in, surrounded him. The dark was still there…but it seemed cowed by the brilliance of the light that had overtaken him. The dark was still there, and—</p>
<p>And it would always be there. The dark would always be there, the shadow at the edge of the light. But as he ruminated over this feeling he discovered something: the cohabitation of the two didn’t inspire the conflict he had known his entire life. They seemed…content, united for a common purpose. </p>
<p>Ben knew what he had to do. </p>
<p>-----------------------------------------------------------</p>
<p>Just another TROS alternative where Rey and Ben get the conclusion they deserve.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Rey/Ben Solo, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>40</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>the end of all the endings</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>hey everyone, this is reybencyera from twitter! i've been off twitter for a while for a variety of personal life reasons but my love for these two refuses to be tamed, so i decided to channel my enthusiasm into a small fic/one-shot, which happens to be my very first fandom related writing ever. i <i>do</i> plan to return to twitter eventually so if you want, you can follow me at https://twitter.com/reybencyera.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>His muscles ached. His calloused hands threatened to bleed through as a result of the rocks he had scaled to get to where she was. The bones that had been broken on the fall down the pit were causing him indescribable pain, but he only had eyes for one thing. </p>
<p>Ben cradled Rey’s head in his hands. This couldn’t be happening. This couldn’t be happening. </p>
<p><i>Not her</i>, he thought, panicking as he saw the blank stare in her eyes, <i>she can’t be the one to go. </i></p>
<p>With this hazy half-thought racing through his mind, he slowly extended his hand to Rey’s stomach. </p>
<p>As he did, a million images of life flashed through his head:</p>
<p>
  <i>He and Rey, curled up in bed as the sun rose. At peace. </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>Kissing Rey. </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>Passionately. Forcefully. </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>“You know I can take whatever I want.”</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>Softly. Tenderly.</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>“Please…”</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>Rey with her back turned, gazing out of the window at a lake that reflected the brilliance of the setting sun.  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>Holding a child. </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>A child with dark, wavy hair. A child with bright, hazel eyes. </i>
</p>
<p><i></i>Their <i>child.</i></p>
<p>He was violently thrown back to reality as he felt the absence of Rey’s breath under his palm. His sorrow threatened to throw him off-balance for a moment but he attempted to center himself with a deep breath.</p>
<p>He was losing her. His future. His peace. His love. His life. </p>
<p>His balance. </p>
<p>He couldn’t allow this to happen. There had to be something he could do. His eyes cast around the room, a desperate and fruitless search for something, someone who could help Rey. </p>
<p>Finding nothing there, he looked back at her body.</p>
<p>He pressed his hand more firmly against her stomach, preparing to do something that… well, that he wasn’t sure <i>anyone</i> had accomplished before. The only tales of bringing people back from the dead that he had heard were of the Sith - and Ben felt the farthest away from that ideology that he had in years.</p>
<p>But he had an instinct about this, and as that phrase came to mind he winced at the smirk that would appear on Luke’s face if he could hear his wayward nephew’s thoughts just then.</p>
<p>He attempted to center himself, sinking into a meditative state that he had rarely assumed since his time under his uncle’s tutelage. The way he had channeled the Dark side hadn’t required the same peace and focus the Light did, only pain and emotion. </p>
<p>Reaching into the deepest caverns of his soul. Beckoning forward that light that had been so long abandoned, so long despised. </p>
<p>He gasped as he finally felt the warmth of it. It drew him in, surrounded him. The dark was still there…but it seemed cowed by the brilliance of the light that had overtaken him. The dark was still there, and—</p>
<p>And it would always be there. The dark would always be there, the shadow at the edge of the light. But as he ruminated over this feeling he discovered something: the cohabitation of the two didn’t inspire the conflict he had known his entire life. They seemed…content, united for a common purpose. </p>
<p>Ben knew what he had to do. </p>
<p>He looked down at Rey, taking in how her light, her beauty shone through even here. He thought about her strength, her compassion, her bravery. </p>
<p>He thought about all of the things he loved about her, all of the ways he had desired and loved her since they had first met. </p>
<p>The pleading look in her eyes as she had trailed closer to him in the elevator on the Supremacy. The breathless way she had murmured his name (his <i>true</i> name.) The feeling of her hand, rough from a lifetime of hard labor and survival, touching his. </p>
<p>He thought about their total understanding as they had raised their lightsabers together, ready to face whatever foe would dare to cross the two of them.</p>
<p>It was this thought - the thought of a union between him and Rey - that finally allowed him to draw from the Force as he needed to. He felt as the power flowed through his fingertips and into where they lay on Rey’s abdomen.</p>
<p>He kept his eyes closed, focusing on Rey’s re-emerging presence in the Force. Suddenly, he felt the warm pressure of someone else’s hand on top of his. </p>
<p>His eyes jolted open and he stared, transfixed, as Rey sat up and looked at him with wonder and tears quickly filling her hazel irises. He glanced down for a moment at their position on the ground, with Rey’s now upright body perched on his lap. He felt his cheeks flush slightly and looked back up to where Rey was still staring at him. </p>
<p>Her face suddenly lit up, her smile blindingly white. Ben’s eyes ran all over her face, taking in the color that had returned to it, the light brown spots freckling her sharp cheekbones and her delicate nose, the wisps of hair that escaped her elaborately done buns (<i>Leia must have taught her that style</i>, he thought silently to himself with a hint of bittersweet nostalgia.)</p>
<p>“<i>Ben</i>,” she murmured, almost reverently, looking at him as though he was the greatest thing she had ever laid eyes on. Her eyes shuddered close and she brought her head closer to his, gasping quietly when she felt the heat and perspiration of Ben’s forehead against her own.</p>
<p>Ben’s eyes closed also, a shallow breath coming through his lips as he felt the other half of the bond fill and warm. Rey inched closer to him until their lips were barely a hair’s width apart, hesitating for a moment before pressing hers to Ben’s. </p>
<p>They fumbled for a moment, both completely inexperienced in these things, before their awkwardness faded away and they lost themselves in the feel of each other.</p>
<p>Ben slowly jolted forward, wrapping an arm around Rey’s back, and her hand came up to entangle itself in his damp hair. Their lips moved together, tentative but passionate, shifting against one another like it would be the only time they would ever be allowed to.</p>
<p>They broke away to take in deep breaths, once again gazing at each other with something near trepidation.</p>
<p>Suddenly, Ben felt a foreign emotion stirring within him. His total gratification at the physical connection that they had finally - <i>finally</i> - achieved spilled over onto his habitually brooding face. Rey’s eyes widened in disbelief at the carefree laugh that Ben let out as his eyes closed and he leaned his exhausted head against her temple.</p>
<p>There were too many questions to be asked about how they had ended up where they were, too many discussions they needed to have, too many hostile reunions that would have to take place in the future. At that moment in time, all they wanted to do was hold each other, breathe in the air around them and be content that they were both here - finally happy, finally safe, and, most importantly, finally together.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>thanks for reading! :D</p>
<p> </p>
<p>(p.s. my "beta" was grammarly so any mistakes can be attributed to that lol)</p></blockquote></div></div>
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